Thanks to Edge Research Lab for the HackHD

We're obliged to the chaps at Edge Research Lab for sending over a HackHD camera for use on our Low Orbit Helium Assisted Navigator (LOHAN) mission. We haven't got it into the air yet for a test, but the guys at Edge have used it for various flights and say it works perfectly. Let's face it, it must be better than our stroppy GoPro 3. More here.

I use this Cam. +1 with Ted, very easy to interface with APM or PixHawk or wathever. The only thing is missing is that you cannot change from Photo/Video without having to edit the config file on the MicroSD card and reboot the Cam. Current firware is 1.1.15 ... I often check if a new firmware is available that would permit the switch without having to reboot... Will maiden soon... if I can finish the airframe.

About Mark's post regarding separating the lense. This is a question in there FAQ:

Here is an extract:

Can I solder wires to the sensor in order to place the lens somewhere off of the board? This is possible but would not be any easier on our camera than a GoPro camera and may affect quality issues as the sensor should be as close to the other board components as possible. Click herefor a picture of our sensor.

I kinda suspected it must be the case. Although on GoPro 3 sensor is on a separate board and I hoped GoPro would make it and option to separate lens from the body, but I guess it's not gonna happen within next century.

@Nuno, the hot mirror filter is attached to the back of the lens (not over the sensor), so achieving NIR/NDVI is very doable. In fact, we commissioned a custom lens with an IR pass filter (visible block - looks like a mirror) and it works great for spotting irrigated fields from our balloons... here's a visible shot:

And here's the same view through the custom lens - we mounted two HHDs side by side for comparison, there's some misalignment, but it's close. The fields are clearly visible:

Have been meaning to do a blog post on this for a while, as I know there's a lot of interest in NDVI here... hopefully soon I'll get all of the details written up properly.